


Slaying Dragons

by lanalucy



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Community: hc_bingo, Fear, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Protectiveness, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:31:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanalucy/pseuds/lanalucy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alternate version of Kara's suicide attempt in the Dollhouse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slaying Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Written for hc_bingo - square twenty-one: lacerations or knife wounds.

The child had been the last straw. She couldn’t be a mother. She couldn’t be stuck here with Leoben forever. How many times had she killed him now? Gods. She couldn’t even remember. It was going to be over now, though. She wedged the metal across the door and the jamb, and sat back down on the toilet. She reached in and grasped the shank she’d hidden away, thinking she’d never be strong enough to use it. She looked at it only long enough to make sure it was in the right spot on her forearm. She gritted her teeth and dug in deep. Blood welled up, and she blinked back tears. She could do this. She wasn’t weak.

“Mama!” the child shouted from the other room.

Kara ignored it, remembering times she’d just wanted her mother’s company. That’s all this was. She couldn’t see her, so she wanted attention.

“Mama!” 

The scream shredded her composure, though. She heard fear. She looked at the line she’d begun on her arm, the escape it offered her, and she forced herself to put the shank back in the tank, hiding it away from Leoben. She wiped the blood off as best she could and yanked the metal out of the door. When she threw the door open, Kacey was struggling in the arms of one of the doctors from the Farm, and rage shattered hot across her skin.

“Get the frak away from her!” She rushed him, holding the metal out in front of her like a knife, and he backed up.

“Mama! Mama!” Kacey struggled some more.

Kara stalked forward. “You know I’m not afraid to use this. You remember me, don’t you?” She smiled - the same sweet, compliant smile she’d given him in the hospital before she’d slashed his throat with a bloody piece of broken mirror.

The “doctor” didn’t look frightened, but he did step back again and bent to release Kacey. She ran to Kara and hid behind her legs.

“Get. The. Frak. Out. Of. Here. You can’t have her!” Kara’s voice started quiet, but by the end, she was screeching, and Kacey was holding so tight to Kara’s legs she almost tripped her.

Kara watched the Simon climb the stairs, look back once, and go out the door. She listened for the tell-tale snick of the lock, then tossed the piece of metal away and bent to Kacey.

“It’s okay, baby. The bad man’s gone. Mama won’t let him take you.” She held Kacey in her arms, rocking her back and forth, stroking her back as her tears died down.

She looked toward the bathroom, the escape she’d so desperately wanted just a few minutes ago. Kacey’s hand petted her chest, and she murmured, “Mama.”

She could be better than her own mother. She’d just proved it, hadn’t she?

Kara hugged Kacey fiercely and carried her to the bedroom. She tucked Kacey in and laid down beside her, her arm protectively over the tiny body, and she watched the stairs. The escape of suicide still glittered brightly at her, but she would not leave this child behind to be tortured. They’d have to kill her themselves first.


End file.
